Larry Shenk, Vice President of Alumni Relations, shares his notes, quotes and anecdotes from the world of baseball.

Blanked24 hours after the Phillies had taken the NL lead in runs scored, LHP Jon Lester and his bullpen mates tossed a shutout, setting up the rubber game this afternoon.

Phillies offense has been inconsistent at times but credit last night goes to Lester, who was involved in his fourth scoreless outing of the season.

Robbie on Mound60 years ago today Robin Roberts made his major league debut, as was mentioned in this space yesterday.

Thought the following from the Phillies 1949 Yearbook was interesting:A young man the National League believes has a date with pitching stardom . . . a spunky, right-hander with a violent fast ball, a crackling curve and though still a raw rookie in a professional sense, has no fear of any hitter he faces. Signed out of Michigan State, this imperturbable youngster debuted in the Inter-State League with Wilmington last season, fanned an average of nine per game, won nine of 10 decisions and was brought up in mid-June. Pitched 10 complete games, won 7, lost 9; fanned 84 and in all worked in 20 games. Beat Cincinnati three out of three; also scored wins over Boston, Chicago and Pittsburgh.

All-Star VotingChase Utley continues leading all NL players, which is great. Matter of fact, his lead over the second-place vote-getter (Chipper Jones) increased.

Pat Burrell moved from ninth to sixth and Jimmy Rollins from fifth to fourth. But, Ryan Howard, dropped a notch to fifth place. Rollins had the second most votes among shortstops over the past week which is good news.

We need to get behind our players. In-park voting ends Saturday but online voting continues until 1:59 p.m. July 2. Fans can vote up to 25 times on phillies.com.

Minor League NotesOF Greg Golson (Reading) has been placed on the DL with a left wrist strain . . . RHP Tyson Brummett (Clearwater) has been promoted to Reading . . . OF Michael Taylor and RHP Drew Naylor (Lakewood) have been moved up a level to Clearwater. Each was having a banner year with the BlueClaws.

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